let your lives speak sign over building entrance

Making a difference in our communities doesn't just happen. And it doesn’t only require hard work and motivation, although these are necessary components. It involves a process of becoming informed, engaging in reflection, learning new skills, and being empowered to act with intention. At Sandy Spring Friends School, we equip students to be conscious and conscientious citizens who are empowered to be positive changemakers in the world.

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What does Civic Engagement Look Like at SSFS?

Civic engagement and social responsibility were in the founding goals of Sandy Spring Friends School as an essential element of a robust Quaker education. Here, civic engagement involves:

Becoming knowledgeable about current events and key issues impacting human and civil rights around the world
Listening actively and inquiring regularly
Engaging in deep reflection and analysis
Growing in an ability to recognize, understand, and honor multiple perspectives
Responding to the needs around us and working to make our communities better

See the "SSFS Guidelines on Civic Engagement & the School Environment" booklet, originally posted Oct. 2020, and updated for 2024.

Community-Based Education to Foster Globally-Minded Citizens

At Sandy Spring Friends, we believe that an education rooted in community encourages our students to become globally-aware citizens who are self-sustaining, empathetic, and respectful changemakers in our ever-changing society.

What does Civic Engagement look like in the classroom?
Civility in Civic Engagement: What are the community norms?

What does Civic Engagement look like in the classroom?

At our school, civic engagement occurs in many forms. It could be an advisory discussion, classroom discussion, open forum, a query at Meeting for Worship, or an assembly around a social or political topic. It could be a service-learning trip, a gathering that raises awareness, or a fundraiser that generates resources for a particular cause. Engagement in local and national elections and legislation, responding to natural disasters and civil unrest, educating about and advocating against discrimination, inequity, and lack of access to resources, and grappling with issues of human and civil rights are all examples of civic engagement that we might see in our school community.

Civility in Civic Engagement: What are the community norms?

We value civic engagement and respect the diversity of thoughts, opinions, and experiences that exist within our school community.

As our students actively engage in political and social issues on campus, off campus, and virtually, all members of our community do so with the following norms:

Listen to understand, and reflect before responding.
Speak from the “I” perspective. Model and make room for authenticity.
Expand your capacity to honor multiple perspectives by challenging the ideas of others, and accepting challenges to your own ideas, with grace and civility aimed at clarity.
Question, discern, and question more, allowing for continuing revelation.
Accept discomfort as an important part of the learning process.
Assume positive intent while addressing negative impact.

LS Friendship Bracelet Service Fundraiser

Civic Engagement Through Self-Advocacy

Sandy Spring Friends School is deeply committed to civic engagement through our mission to “Let Your Lives Speak.” By fostering critical thinkers and compassionate self-advocates, our students become changemakers in their community and in the world.

READ: 5 Ways To Help Your Student Develop Self-Advocacy

Civic Engagement: Key Skills

Civic engagement allows our students to develop and practice key skills for leadership and life-long learning. Specifically, civic engagement encourages:

Active listening and inquiry
Deep reflection and analytical thought
Considering evidence and counter-evidence collaboratively
Creative problem-solving where teachers partner with students in the learning process
An ability to see, understand, and hold multiple perspectives fostered by a culture of respect

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